could he have won wimbledon without going to the 5th set? or was he scared to go to Federer's backhand.

If i were in that position. I would have made Federer hit the forehand pass for two reasons:

1: He's way out of the court, a good forehand approach would have pretty much sealed the deal.

2: Federer would have needed to come up with something equally amazing as that backhand, but he would have less of an angle to work with (the backhand you could go cross court, or down the line. Most likely he would have hit the ball right back to Rafa.

The match was phenomenal because it went to 5, so im not sure why i would want it to go to four. So, yea, tell me what you think.

could he have won wimbledon without going to the 5th set? or was he scared to go to Federer's backhand.
If i were in that position. I would have made Federer hit the forehand pass for two reasons:

1: He's way out of the court, a good forehand approach would have pretty much sealed the deal.

2: Federer would have needed to come up with something equally amazing as that backhand, but he would have less of an angle to work with (the backhand you could go cross court, or down the line. Most likely he would have hit the ball right back to Rafa.

The match was phenomenal because it went to 5, so im not sure why i would want it to go to four. So, yea, tell me what you think.

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He did go to the backhand didn't he? what r u talking about?? see underline

anyway Nadal played a percentage shot , hitting to Fed's forehand would have been a more difficult shot since the return was low and it is difficult to change direction of the ball.

could he have won wimbledon without going to the 5th set? or was he scared to go to Federer's backhand.

If i were in that position. I would have made Federer hit the forehand pass for two reasons:

1: He's way out of the court, a good forehand approach would have pretty much sealed the deal.

2: Federer would have needed to come up with something equally amazing as that backhand, but he would have less of an angle to work with (the backhand you could go cross court, or down the line. Most likely he would have hit the ball right back to Rafa.

The match was phenomenal because it went to 5, so im not sure why i would want it to go to four. So, yea, tell me what you think.

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Six of one half a dozen of the other. Upon close examination I believe the backhand pass was the better choice for Nadal, although staying back was the best choice. I believe both the pressure and anticipation of being so close to winning caused a slight overagressiveness and wanting to end the point. As we see in the following image Federer does have farther to run for a forehand pass, however this is common among pros, for the reason that the forehand is more powerful and easy to hit, and can be hit further back without as much difficulty. Federer's weight was also slightly shifting in the forehand direction to cover this extra distance, which is why I believe Nadal was trying to slightly wrong-foot him. However, Nadal opted to try to hit more to the body than out wide, to cramp the shot, and it gave Federer a little more time to think. However, it was NOT an easy shot by any means.

In this next picture I think we can see that the backhand pass, at first glance, does seem to have a slightly bigger angle. To compare hitting a backhand pass on the stretch and forehand pass on the run as equal is a mistake. The forehand will invariably be stronger, especially for the one hander, even though Federer is famous for his angles and flicks. Even if the forehand pass did not end up in a sheer winner, it most likely would turn out favorable for Federer. Also I think you can see Nadal should have been set up slightly more to the right to intersect the angles.

Six of one half a dozen of the other. Upon close examination I believe the backhand pass was the better choice for Nadal, although staying back was the best choice. I believe both the pressure and anticipation of being so close to winning caused a slight overagressiveness and wanting to end the point. As we see in the following image Federer does have farther to run for a forehand pass, however this is common among pros, for the reason that the forehand is more powerful and easy to hit, and can be hit further back without as much difficulty. Federer's weight was also slightly shifting in the forehand direction to cover this extra distance, which is why I believe Nadal was trying to slightly wrong-foot him. However, Nadal opted to try to hit more to the body than out wide, to cramp the shot, and it gave Federer a little more time to think. However, it was NOT an easy shot by any means.

In this next picture I think we can see that the backhand pass, at first glance, does seem to have a slightly bigger angle. To compare hitting a backhand pass on the stretch and forehand pass on the run as equal is a mistake. The forehand will invariably be stronger, especially for the one hander, even though Federer is famous for his angles and flicks. Even if the forehand pass did not end up in a sheer winner, it most likely would turn out favorable for Federer. Also I think you can see Nadal should have been set up slightly more to the right to intersect the angles.

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awesome analysis..and i love how you took the time to make these images and show the possible angles. but i still have to say that if nadal were to hit to Federer's forehand, he would have closed and therefore let less space for the angle. however, your reasoning does make sense, im just happy there was a 5th set.

fed_the_savior,
in your analysis the yellow arrow to Fed's backhand is way too wide... Nadal hit the ball at the end corner of the court, which was a lot less dangerous than if he had hit it like how your arrow was drawn . Fed had time to hit a shot right at his waist level, with great balance, and without even having to reach (the reaching BH is probably his worst shot, where he normally resolves to a slice and get beat the hell out of).
I would totally vote for the crosscourt to BH shot, and it should have been the best possible shot IF Nadal had created more angle on it...

It was a terrible choice, the down the line was wide open, he hit it to the wrong side or that match would have been over.

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Did you see how low that ball was? Very low bounce and tight to the net. Going down the line is a very low percentage shot in that situation. Also, since you are approaching to the Federer forehand in a GS final you have to make it REALLY good or you are going to get owned hard.

He made the right choice. Hit an aggressive high percentage shot and covered the cross court pass. Federer's pass was simply too good, that's all.

Quite interestingly I was twice in a row in the same situation today and went twice for the DTL shot from lefty forehand to righty forehand, resulting twice in a winning volley as all the angles were covered that way.

It is scary to play into the strength of your opponent, but if you cover the net well, it can be done and a DTL attack to the net is always safer than a cross court.

Quite interestingly I was twice in a row in the same situation today and went twice for the DTL shot from lefty forehand to righty forehand, resulting twice in a winning volley as all the angles were covered that way.

It is scary to play into the strength of your opponent, but if you cover the net well, it can be done and a DTL attack to the net is always safer than a cross court.

Maybe someone should tell that to Roddick.

Anway, just my 2 cent.

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Roddick gets owned so badly approaching to Fed's forehand it's not even funny. Or what are referring to?

Something that wasn't mentioned in this thread, I remember Nadal and Federer both talked about it in the press conference: Federer struggled to hit backhand passing shots all match, and in a sense that was the first real backhand passing shot Federer hit.

Nadal made the right play and forced Federer to come up with the one shot that he struggled to make all match, but that time Federer made it.

great thing Federer hit a clutch shot, That match really made me get nervous! ANyways nadal won end of story, Even if nadal went for DTL, Fed would have saved championship point only to lose it in the end!

Something that wasn't mentioned in this thread, I remember Nadal and Federer both talked about it in the press conference: Federer struggled to hit backhand passing shots all match, and in a sense that was the first real backhand passing shot Federer hit.

Nadal made the right play and forced Federer to come up with the one shot that he struggled to make all match, but that time Federer made it.

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This is exactly how I remember how this happened as well. Federer was missing a lot of his BH passing shots, so it was a logical choice for Nadal to just keep on going with what seemed to be the winning tactic all throughout the match. And just at that one shot, Federer finally managed.